Veteran-owned NEMT business: VetCert, federal set-asides, and the veteran programs that help you start

Veteran ownership opens three things for a NEMT company: federal contracts reserved for veteran-owned firms, help from VA and SBA to get started, and certifications in some states. The contracts need SBA’s VetCert certification. Since January 1, 2023, SBA has certified veteran-owned (VOSB) and service-disabled veteran-owned (SDVOSB) small businesses, a job VA used to do.

How VA medical centers buy wheelchair and stretcher transportation, and the Veterans First rule that pushes those contracts toward veteran-owned firms, is covered in VA transportation contracts. This guide covers the certification itself, the rest of the federal market, and the programs that help a veteran build the company. For registration and bidding basics, read government NEMT contracts.

What VetCert certifies

VetCert certifies two statuses under 13 CFR Part 128, and they open different doors:

• VOSB. A small business at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more veterans who live in the United States. VOSB set-asides and sole source awards exist only at VA.
• SDVOSB. The same test, with owners VA has registered as service-disabled veterans. SDVOSB set-asides are available at agencies across the federal government. When the veteran has a permanent and total disability rating and cannot manage daily operations, a spouse or permanent caregiver may manage the company instead.

The company must also be small under the size standard for at least one NAICS code in its SAM profile, and small for the code on each contract it bids. For special needs transportation, NAICS 485991, the limit is $19.0 million in average annual receipts.

Certification is now required, not optional. VA set-asides have no self-certification option. For SDVOSB set-asides at other agencies, self-certification ended on January 1, 2024 for any firm that had not applied by December 31, 2023. Firms that had not applied by December 22, 2024 also lost the right to self-certify for contracts that count toward agencies’ SDVOSB goals or a prime contractor’s veteran subcontracting goals.

You apply through SBA’s online certification portal. After approval, the company stays certified for three years. It can recertify in the 90 days before that period ends, and SBA reinstates a firm that recertifies within 30 days after a missed deadline. Any change in ownership, control or size has to be reported to SBA within 30 days.

How much federal work is aimed at service-disabled veterans

Federal law sets the government-wide goal for prime and subcontract dollars going to SDVOSBs at no less than 5 percent each fiscal year (15 U.S.C. 644(g)(1)(A)(ii)). A 2023 amendment (Public Law 118-31) raised it from 3 percent. Three rules turn that goal into contracts:

1. Set-aside first look. Outside VA, a contracting officer considering a small business set-aside above the simplified acquisition threshold must first consider the 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB and women-owned programs, with no order of preference among them (13 CFR 128.404).
2. Sole source awards. Outside VA, an agency may award a non-manufacturing contract to one SDVOSB without competition when the price, including options, is $5 million or less, the SDVOSB is responsible, and the price is fair (FAR 19.1406).
3. VA’s own rules. VA sets aside and awards sole source contracts to VOSBs and SDVOSBs under its own acquisition regulation, which is how wheelchair van contracts at VA medical centers end up reserved for veteran-owned firms.

Winning a set-aside comes with a limit. An SDVOSB prime on a service contract may pay firms that are not certified SDVOSBs no more than half of what the government pays it. How to bring in a partner fleet within that limit, including SDVOSB joint ventures, is in joint ventures and teaming agreements.

Help starting the company

Three federal programs help a veteran start or finance a ride company, and each comes with limits to check before planning around it.

VR&E’s Self-Employment track

VA’s Veteran Readiness and Employment program (VR&E) has a self-employment track for service members and veterans with a service-connected disability who face an employment barrier and are enrolled in VR&E. It offers help building a business plan, an analysis of the business concept, and training in operations, marketing and finances.

Before VA approves a self-employment plan, it reviews the proposed business in detail (38 CFR 21.257). The review covers:

• Whether the business is economically viable, and a market analysis for the service.
• A cost analysis of what VA would provide.
• Financing available from outside VA, including your own resources and local banks.
• Coordination with SBA, the business location and its cost, and a training plan.

VA may then pay for training, business management courses, license fees, and tools and supplies. Veterans with the most severe service-connected disabilities, for whom self-employment is the only realistic goal, can also receive essential equipment and minimum starting stock.

The rule that matters most for a NEMT plan is what VA will not buy. 38 CFR 21.214(f) bars paying for land or buildings, leases or rentals, and the purchase or rental of trucks, cars or other means of transportation. Your vans have to be financed some other way, which is where the SBA loan guide comes in.

Boots to Business

Boots to Business is SBA’s entrepreneurship course inside the Department of Defense’s Transition Assistance Program. It opens with a two-day, in-person introduction to business ownership, followed by an optional online course, Revenue Readiness, run with Mississippi State University. Service members, including National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses can attend free at participating installations. Those without access to a base can take Boots to Business Reboot. SBA district offices and Veterans Business Outreach Centers deliver most sessions.

A $0 fee on SBA Express loans

SBA Information Notice 5000-881797 sets the upfront guaranty fee at $0 on SBA Express loans to businesses that a veteran, or the spouse of a veteran, owns and controls. It covers loans SBA approves in fiscal year 2027, which runs to September 30, 2027. The lender must document that you qualify. The same ownership helps with bonding: when a surety gets SBA’s prior approval to guarantee a bond for a veteran-owned company, SBA reimburses the surety for 90 percent of a loss, instead of the up to 80 percent that applies to most other firms on contracts over $100,000 (13 CFR 115.31). Surety bonds for transportation contracts explains when ride contracts need one.

State veteran certifications: Texas as an example

State programs run on their own rules, and some are stricter than SBA’s. Texas made veterans the center of its state program. Since December 2, 2025, the Comptroller’s historically underutilized business program certifies only firms owned by service-disabled veterans, and it is now called VetHUB. The permanent rules took effect May 12, 2026 (34 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 20). To qualify:

• At least 51 percent of the business must be owned, managed and operated by Texas residents who are service-disabled veterans with a service-connected disability of at least 20 percent.
• The business must be based in Texas, be for profit, and meet SBA size standards.

Certification is free, lasts up to four years while the business stays eligible, and the Comptroller allows up to 90 days for review. State agencies find certified firms through the VetHUB directory alongside the Centralized Master Bidders List, which costs $70 a year to join. Prime contractors also search the directory for subcontractors on projects of $100,000 or more. For purchases of $10,000 or less, state buyers can contact a business directly. Other Texas licensing and Medicaid rules are in the Texas guide.

Outside Texas, check the state procurement office for a veteran category and its residency and disability rules before counting on it.

Where veteran status does not carry over

Veteran status is not a shortcut everywhere a ride company sells:

• DOT’s DBE program. When DOT rewrote the DBE rules in 2025 and 2026, it declined to make veterans a presumed group. A veteran can still qualify by proving disadvantage in a personal narrative, as described in DBE certification for transportation companies.
• VA’s rural transportation grants. Highly Rural Transportation Grants go only to state veterans service agencies and Veterans Service Organizations. A ride company cannot apply, and a grantee may pass grant funds to another organization only if its application names that organization as a subrecipient (38 CFR 17.703).

Billing several veteran programs from one place

A veteran-owned company often ends up serving VA, a county and private-pay riders at the same time, each on its own rates. HealthRide builds invoices from your completed trips, each priced from that payer’s own rates, so VA work, county work and private riders never share a price list. Card payments and the checks you record land in one ledger. See how invoicing works.